Rural-mail carrier.



J. D. WEATHERS.

RURAL MAIL CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. a. 19-16- Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

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Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

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JOHN I). WEATHERS, 0F SHELBY, NORTH CAROLINA.

RURAL-MAIL CARRIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

Application filed March 3, 1916. Serial No. 81,924.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN D. WEATHERS,

citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Shelby, in the county of Cleveland and State 'of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rural- Mail Carriers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a rural mail carrying device, and the primary object of the invention is to provide a track which travels over a rural mail route and carries a plurality of boxes, one for each house on the route, in which'boxes is placed the mail at the postoflice and the boxes are carried by suitable propelling means until they reach their station, at which place the mail is re moved from the boxes. The boxes are connected to the propelling structure so that all of the boxes will be at their proper stations at the same time at which time the propelling means is stopped which permits the boxes to remain stationary at the stations for any desired time.

With the foregoing and other objects in view this invention consists in such novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and claimed.

' In describing the invention in detail reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters designate like and corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a carrier constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the track and mail carrying box. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation of the carrier showing the dip in the carrier at the stations. Fig. 4 is a view showing a part of the propelling mechanism for the boxes, and Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4."

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 designates supporting poles which are positioned at spaced intervals about the mail route and have cross arms 2 connected to their upper ends, which cross arms in turn support spaced standards 3. The standards 3 have wires 4 connected to and supported by their upper ends, which wires extend completely about the mail route.

The cross arm 2 has relatively short standards 5 connected thereto which support guiding wires 6 that also extend about the entire mail route. Brackets 7 are attached to the upper surfaces of the cross arms 2 intermediate their ends, and they support shafts 8 upon which are rotatably mounted sprockets 9.

The mail boxes which are generically indicated by the numeral 10, are preferably rectangular in shape and have their ends 11 opened and closed by a door 12 which is hingedly connected as is shown at 13 and is held locked by means of a lock 14 which look can only be opened by the postmaster and the person at the station which is the destination of the mail box. The boxes 10 have depending brackets 15 connected to their under surfaces, which rotatably support pulleys 16. The peripheries or rims of the pulleys 16 are concavely cut for receiving the guide wires6. Bracket arms 17 are connected to the upper corners of the boxes 10 and have shafts 18 carried by their upper ends upon which shafts are mounted pulleys 19. The pulleys l9 havetheir rims cut concavely for receiving the guide wires 4. The pulleys 19 and 16 in connection with the guidev wires 4 and 6, guide the travel of the mail boxes.

The boxes 10 are secured at spaced inter vals to a sprocket chain 20 corresponding .withthe distance between the various stations or houses along the mail route. The chain 20 is propelled by a sprocket 21 which meshes with the under surface of the chain as clearly shown'iin Fig. 5 of the drawings. The'sprocket 21 is positioned at the postoffice and it is mounted upon a shaft 22. The shaft 22 has a gear 23 mounted thereon. The gear 23 meshes with a gear 24 which is feathered upon a shaft 25. The gear 24 has a collar 26 formed thereupon to which the lever 27 is connected so that the gear 24 may be shifted into or out of meshing engagement with the gear 23. The shaft 25 is operatively connected in any suitable manner to a prime mover 28 which may be an ordinary gasolene engine or any other suitable type of prime mover desired. The provision of the lever 27 and the shiftable gear 24 provides means for stopping the movement of the sprocket chain 20 without stopping the engine or prime mover 28. The track about which the boxes travel, has dips 30 formed therein at the various houses or stations about the route, so that the boxes may be lowered into a position convenient for the removal of the mail therefrom.

In the operation of the improved rural mail carrier; when any one of the boxes 10 is at the postotice, the movement of the chain 20 is stopped and the mail for the person to whom the box belongsis placed there in and the box is looked, after which the lever 27 is moved for moving the gear 2e into engagement with the gear 23 which starts the operation oi the chain 20 and moves the box out of the postofiice and the next box in the-postoi'fice. This operation is continued until all of the boxes have been filled and the chain isstill propelled until the last box filled reaches its destination or station, at which time all of the boxes will be at their proper stations or destinations and the operation of the chain will then be stopped, leaving the boxes at their stations for any desired length of time or until the next mail delivery.

From the foregoing description taken in connection" with the accompanying drawings the advantages of construction and of the method of operation of the improved rural mail. carrier will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains, and while in the fore going description, the principle of the operation of this invention has been described together with various features of construction, it is to be understood that certain minor features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be altered to suit practical conditions provided such alterations are comprehended within the scope of what is claimed.

\Vhat is claimed is 1. In a rural mail carrier structure, a sprocket chain extending about an entire mail route, mail boxes rigidly connected to said sprocket chain at spaced intervals equal to the distance between the stations about the route, supporting means for said sprocket chain, means for propelling said sprocket chain for moving said boxes about a mail route, and means for guiding the travel. of said boxes.

In a rural mail carrier structure, a sprocket chain extending about an entire mail route, mail boxes rigidly connected to said sprocket chain at spaced intervals equal to the distance between the stations about the route, supporting means for sprocket chain, means for propelling said sprocket chain for moving said boxes about a mail route, means for guiding the travel of said boxes, and means for disconnecting said'propelling means and said sprocket chain for permitting all of said boxes to drop at their station at the same time.

3. In a rural mail carrier structure, the combination of a plurality of supporting posts, a sprocket chain supported by said supporting posts, mail boxes connected to said sprocket chain at spaced intervals corresponding to the spaces between the stations of the route, guide wires carried by said supporting posts, means connecting said boxes and said wires for guiding the movement of the boxes and means for pro polling said sprocket chain, said sprocket chain and guide wires dipping at the stations for permitting ready access to the boxes, a prime mover operatively connected to said propelling means and means for disconnecting said prime mover and said sprocket chain for permitting said prime mover to run without moving said sprocket chain.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN D. VVEATI-IERS. lVitnesses C. E. HUMrrmms, J. D. lVEATHERS, Jr.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

- Washington, D. C. 

